October isn't just about tricks and treats — it's also National Cybersecurity Awareness Month. And some scams can be scarier than anything you see on Halloween.
Truman Kain, a security researcher at Huntress, a cybersecurity company, has some tips to help keep people safe.
"Borderline on paranoia, I like to say, is going to keep you the most secure," he said.
Kain said most of the time, humans are at the front line at defense when it comes to taking care of their personal information online.
"The attackers are not slowing down," he said. "Things are just getting more and more ramped up. So, it's up to you to kind of be vigilant."
Having strong and unique passwords is one of the best ways to stay protected, but those passwords shouldn't be the only thing that's hard to guess.
"You should have fake answers to those security questions. That information is essentially widely available to attackers, especially if there's been a breach," explained Kain. "So many people have their social media open and not locked down … no reason for everyone just to be able to look and find a bunch of information about you. They can [then] use that to answer your secret security questions."
Kain urges people not to ignore those software updates on your devices and applications. Having an outdated browser could be the difference between something happening to you and an attacker taking over your machine.
"In fact, it's sometimes worse if you were to visit a website with an outdated browser than if you were to enter your password into that malicious website, because an attacker can have complete control of your machine if you have an outdated browser," said Kain.
Avoid using any public Wi-Fi network — use a mobile hotspot instead. Look-alike networks can pop up anywhere and may be hard to detect.
"In most in most situations, you're not going to know anything's wrong,” said Kain. "Something is going to pop up, like a warning, 'Do you want to act? Do you want to continue to use this this network?' And that should be a major red flag for users."
Don't forget about other smart devices in your home. Kain said anything that is connected to the internet can be vulnerable to hackers.
"The best thing you can do is put them on their own network away from the network that you do the majority of your browsing," explained Kain. "It's going to create kind of a gate, a little bit of a firewall, so that if an attacker is to get into the IT devices, they're not going to able to access your personal devices."
The physical security of your devices is just as important as their technical security, so make sure to always keep your phone, laptops and tablets with you always. And remember to lock all your devices when not in use.
